The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has secured the conviction and life imprisonment of two security guards, James Sule, 30, and Adamu Yau, 25, over serial rape of a six-year-old girl in Abuja.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by the agency’s Press and Public Relations Officer, Vincent Adekoye.
According to the statement, Justice S.M. Mayana of the Federal Capital Territory High Court 46 sitting in Apo, Abuja, sentenced the convicts to life imprisonment without an option of fine after they were prosecuted by NAPTIP under the provisions of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.
Adekoye noted that the judgment had been welcomed by stakeholders and Civil Society Organisations across the country, describing it as part of renewed efforts by the agency to strengthen enforcement of the VAPP Act and ensure justice for victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
He explained that the victim was allegedly subjected to repeated sexual abuse from the age of six in 2016 until the matter came to light in 2022 when she turned 12.
The victim narrated that the incidents began after her grandmother hired Sule, then serving as the family’s security guard, to repair a faulty toilet at their residence in Penthouse Estate, Lugbe, Abuja.
According to her account, Sule allegedly lured her into the toilet while her grandmother was in the kitchen, assaulted her and threatened her with a knife to prevent her from speaking out.
The victim said the abuse continued for years, leaving her traumatised and living in fear.
Adekoye further stated that Sule later introduced two other guards identified as Adamu Yau and one Muhammed, who is currently at large, into the abuse.
He said the suspects allegedly threatened to kill the victim and members of her family if she disclosed the incidents to anyone.
The matter eventually came to light after the girl’s parents observed unusual behavioural changes and noticed that she became uncomfortable whenever Sule was around.
“In a bid to get an explanation for the sudden, strange behaviour of the little girl, her parents took her to a prayer house where she confided in the Pastor that Sule, Yau, and Mohammed had been sexually abusing her, particularly whenever she returned from school before her parents arrived home.
“The parents immediately reported the matter to the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), which subsequently transferred the case to NAPTIP and the convicts were immediately arrested.
“Following further investigation, charges were filed in court on February 9, 2023.
“Sule and Yau were arraigned on October 23 of the same year on two-count charge under Section 1(1), punishable under Section 1(2), and Section 5 of the VAPP Act 2015,” Adekoye said.
He added that the defendants pleaded not guilty when the trial commenced on December 5, 2023.
During the proceedings, the prosecution called five witnesses, including the victim’s mother, while seven exhibits, among them a medical report confirming that the victim’s hymen had been breached, were tendered before the court.
Reacting to the judgment, the Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu-Bello, praised the judiciary for what she described as a landmark ruling.
She said, “I am excited that indeed, adequate justice, which is commensurate with the magnitude of the crime committed by the convicts, was duly served on them.
“This will go a long way to assuage the pain and traumatic experience of the victim and her family.
“It is important to point out that this is one of the fallouts of our improved strategies aimed at tightening the noose on violators across the country through stringent implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the VAPP Act to ensure the protection of all Nigerians.
“It will no longer be business as usual for them.”
